✓ 

H&elat&e  Gail  frost. 

[From  Missionary  Tidings,  October,  1895.] 

AmoDg  the  rugged  hills  of  Meigs  county, 
Ohio,  in  a  narrow,  green  valley,  once  stood  a 
cottage.  In  front  was  a  long,  low  porch,  where 
vines  and  trees  had  grown  for  years  untrained. 
Here  the  family  of  A.  P.  Frost  sought  a  tem¬ 
porary  home,  while  the  father  ministered  to 
the  church  in  the  vicinity. 

There  on  September  23,  1868,  Adelaide  was 
born.  She  came  to  fill  the  lonely  hearts  of  her 
parents  after  the  death  of  their  first-born.  In 
the  early  years  of  her  life  she  gave  no  promise 
of  superiority. 

At  the  age  of  seven  she  was  sent  to  school  in 
the  country,  her  parents  having  moved  to  Min¬ 
nesota.  There  she  displayed  traits  which  gave 
promise  of  the  future  scholar.  She  found  spell- 


mg  more  difficult  than  any  other  studies.  Upon 
it  she  bestowed  much  labor,  often  spending  the 
entire  noon  hour  in  study.  She  would  write 
the  lesson  fifty  times  on  her  slate,  not  taking 
time  to  eat  the  luncheon  in  her  little  basket. 

Among  the  first  books  she  read  was  Pilgrim’s 
Progress.  This  she  read  many  times.  In  her 
second  year  of  school  she  learned  to  write  in 
six  weeks,  and  brought  home  a  letter  written 
by  herself  to  her  mother.  From  that  day  until 
this  she  has  been  one  of  the  busiest  of  writers. 

It  was  one  of  her  childish  fancies  to  have  a 
school  of  paper  dolls.  They  sat  on  long  benches 
while  she  taught  them.  They  each  had  a  per¬ 
sonality,  and  for  them  she  wrote  letters  de¬ 
scriptive  of  their  struggles  and  sorrows.  These 
children  had  parents,  and  very  amusing  were 
some  of  the  letters  which  passed  from  one  fam¬ 
ily  to  the  other,  telling  of  measles,  whooping 
cough,  etc. 

At  school  she  was  always  a  leader.  Her 
teacher  knew  who  was  always  ready  to  speak 
or  recite,  when  company  would  come  unexpect¬ 
edly.  She  became  a  Christian  at  the  age  of 
twelve  years.  At  that  time  she  wrote  her  first 
little  letter  to  the  Sunday-School  Evangelist, 
telling  “Uncle  Tom”  that  twelve  Sunday-school 


scholars  were  baptized  one  beautiful  evening 
in  June.  She  taught  her  first  class  in  Sunday- 
school  at  the  age  of  fourteen.  At  seventeen  she 
wrote  her  first  poem  for  the  Christian  Stand¬ 
ard.  At  eighteen  she  taught  her  first  school. 
The  family  was  living  in  Colorado  at  that  time. 
Her  work  as  a  teacher  gave  great  satisfaction. 
She  taught  in  a  new  district,  organizing  the 
work  and  opening  the  first  day  book  in  the  midst 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains  in  the  valley  of  the 
Roaring  Fork.  She  boarded  at  a  wayside  inn, 
walking  over  lava  boulders  to  her  little  claim 
shanty,  which  served  as  a  school-house.  Here 
she  taught,  with  the  utmost  patience,  children 
who  had  never  before  been  in  school.  She 
brought  them  to  order  and  gave  these  simple 
mountaineers  their  first  ideas  of  books  and  the 
world  which  lay  beyond  the  mountains.  On 
leaving,  her  scholars  gave  her  their  picture.  Re¬ 
turning  to  Ohio,  she  entered  the  University  at 
Athens,  where  she  remained  a  year.  Hearing 
of  Hiram  and  its  advantages,  it  was  thought 
best  for  her  to  enter  that  institution.  She 
finished  a  full  course  in  June,  1894,  when  she 
was  graduated  with  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of 
Arts. 

While  in  college  she  became  a  Student  Vol- 


unteer.  She  was  an  active  Christian  worker, 
a  leader  in  the  Bible  work,  having  received  a 
training  in  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  school  at  Lake 
Geneva,  Wis. 

She  first  met  Miss  Mary  Graybiel  at  Hiram, 
as  lady  principal  of  the  Ladies’  Hall.  This 
excellent  woman  thought  she  recognized  the 
future  missionary  in  Adelaide,  and  a  friendship 
full  of  the  sweetest  and  most  tender  sympathy 
has  been  the  result  of  more  intimate  acquaint¬ 
ance. 

Together  they  left  their  native  land  for  dis¬ 
tant  India.  While  they  have  planned  their 
work  together,  the  “little  bungalow”  at  Ma- 
hoba  will  be  the  scene  of  their  future  work. 
Here  they  will  have  a  school  for  girls,  an  or¬ 
phanage,  a  home  for  child-widows,  and  a  radi¬ 
ating  point  for  Christian  work. 

Adelaide  joined  Miss  Graybiel  September  1, 
1895.  The  previous  summer  had  been  spent  at 
school  among  the  Himalaya  Mountains,  where 
she  acquired  sufficient  knowledge  of  the  lan¬ 
guage  to  teach.  She  longed  to  be  of  some  help 
in  this  land  where  darkness  and  idolatry  have 
long  held  dominion.  A  Friend. 

Published  by  the  Christian  Woman’s  Board  of  Mis¬ 
sions,  152  E.  Market  St.,  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  March,  1900. 
One  cent  each  ;  ten  cents  per  dozen. 


